Category: @SoperWritings
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The ability to make and fix things with your hands is becoming a lost art. Often in our modern, consumer culture people are more likely to shop for a bookshelf or call a handyman before even considering fulfilling their needs on their own.

For some kids, the thought of an educational toy or game is an instant turnoff. In these cases, making learning fun can be very similar to trying to get children to eat vegetables. Sometimes it requires some creativity and cunning by a parent or teacher to make a positive choice palatable.

Thankfully, innovators and toy-makers have answered the call. There is an increasing number of creative products designed to make learning not only happen, but enjoyable. Here are a few of the best…

I have been teaching public school children for a decade. From first grade to eighth grade and all the grades in between, I have seen, first hand, students soar above their perceived potential. At the same time, I have seen others struggle to reach it.

I have heard all the rationales from socio-economic disparity to learning styles, from Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs to a lack of interest-based learning, from ineffective schools and ill-trained educators to the lack of necessary educational resources. I will not disparage those factors as they do play a role in the social and academic growth of all children, however, I refuse to believe that they cannot be overcome.

In my career I have met with hundreds of families to discuss the successes and shortcomings of each their children’s academic efforts. By the very nature of the educational process, each child and each family presents the educator with a unique set of challenges and needs that must be accounted for. That being said, it is a flawed mentality (be it explicit or implicit) that the responsibility lies solely with the classroom educators to meet these academic needs.

Looking back over my ten years in the classroom, I can categorically say that there is, in fact, one panacea that has continually produced students that excel both academically and socially. Regardless of financial status, racial background, familial makeup, or special needs, there exists a common experience that has been present in the majority of my most successful students. It is simple and timeless, and any parent has the power to do it. Nevertheless, it stands as the four words I find myself wanting to yell from the mountaintops each year as a fresh crop of families enter into my classroom:

Read with your kids!

Music is and has always been a launching point for human understanding. Harnessing that big idea with the power of digital music is a way you can create positive and fun inroads with the adolescent in your life.

Try becoming “ear buds” with your teen as a way to create both passive and active pathways to potential connections.